Newsletter No 95 July 2021

The AGM will have to be rescheduled to a date and The AGM that got away venue to be determined. Playing the “glad game”, at The date of 6 July had been announced for the Annu- least as all the members of the outgoing Committee had al General Meeting to be followed by a mid-year nominated for the scheduled election, there is no great luncheon at COTAH. Negotiations had been held with hardship for them to continue to serve until we manage the COTAH manager to provide lunch for a minimum to hold an AGM. of 35 patrons and the space for the AGM or for refresh- Members receiving this edition of the Newsletter by ments for those only attending the luncheon. The num- snail mail will realise that the Committee has met to bers and the payments had come in and we were all set undertake the customary mail-out. The Committee will to go. AND THEN … also attempt to map out a future programme of activi- The Premier announced a three day lock down (with ties against an uncertain future, which we trust will the possibility of an extension) in response to the dis- become more predictable before too long. covery of a number of Covid-19 cases in the communi- Patronage ty, and particularly the Delta variant as it had been la- belled. The Committee had no option but to cancel the Glenn Stockton, the CEO of SunWater and our Pa- tron, had accepted our invitation to the luncheon, so event, much to the relief of the COTAH manager who we missed the opportunity to meet him. would otherwise have had to order in the food for lunch To date, patronage by the Department of Regional with no guarantee that it would be used. Development, Manufacturing and Water has not been This was a most unfortunate development, but with arranged. Linda Dobe, who heads up the Water part of the continuation of the pandemic, not entirely unex- the portfolio has been absent on sick leave for some pected. Perhaps as more of the population become vac- time, but will return to duty soon. We wish her well cinated, life will become more certain. and a full recovery.

Marking a Milestone, 100 Years On From the Editor’s Chair The centenary of the passing of the Irrigation Act We members who live in the great south-east are of 1922 is seen as a great opportunity to celebrate a very conscious of the tyranny of distance which significant milestone and to renew acquaintances makes it difficult to keep in touch with distant for- with former colleagues. Our sub-committee, chaired mer colleagues. President Daryl has been doing a by Bruce Pearce is continuing to formulate plans ring-around of country members to ensure that we which are likely to include events in a number of have up to date contact details and to remind them centres late next year. of the proposed celebrations of next year. Bruce would be more than happy to talk to any of He reports that members view the newsletter as our colleagues to share the committees and their “the life blood of the association” and they look ideas about appropriate celebrations. He can be con- forward to receiving each edition. Of course the tacted by phone on (07) 3289 6297 or at newsletter is also a vehicle for them to pass on [email protected] their news or stories. We’d all love to hear them It would be very helpful too if our members . .Until next time, au reservoir. spread the word among those former colleagues Ian Pullar, Editor who are not members but who could be interested in reunions.

At the bottoms of pages are re-worked proverbs for our times. and Weir Construction in 2021 pertise in supervision of consultancies also created prob- lems in the delivery of these projects. On 29 April, WRRA held a gath- Another issue raised by Dave was the need to re- ering at which the speaker was establish the development of engineers and allied fields David Murray, Chief Engineer, in the design and delivery of water related projects in- Department of Regional Devel- cluding training programs. As evidenced in the 70s and opment, Manufacturing and Wa- 80s, this had provided the basis for agencies and consul- ter. A summary of his address tancies to develop graduates competent in the delivery follows - Ed. of water projects and there was a need for this type of In the first of our seminars in over a year we were program in for the future given the project- pleased to welcome Dave Murray to speak on new de- ed impacts of a drying climate. velopments in the Queensland Government. Dave spoke Dave then gave a snapshot of our latest project – of his role in the new department to provide strategic Rookwood Weir on the Fitzroy River upstream of Rock- and detailed technical advice on dam, weir and pipeline hampton, the size and complexity of the project such projects, to help manage risks associated with water that a lot of planning has had to go into the design and projects given the recent history of structural failure of establishment of the project. several water related projects due to design and con- Enabling works have included the upgrading of the struction flaws between 2000 and 2015. 16.2km access road, a new major intersection on the Dave said that reasons for failures included a lack of Capricorn Highway, a 21m high, 260m long bridge at understanding of the risks associated with owning and Riverslea and replacement of the bridge approaches. operating bulk water infrastructure and little understand- Rookwood Weir will have a capacity of 74,325 ML, a ing of risk management which led to poor scoping and yield of 86,000 ML and an impoundment length of selection of consultancies, inappropriate delivery mod- 60km. Spillway width is 202m, height above riverbed is els, lack of weir design expertise and dam design experi- 16.2m and total length of the structure is 350m. ence not necessarily translating to weir design. Some of the major challenges with the project include On the subject of , Dave noted that only two had the stabilisation of the bed and banks (as for most weirs) been constructed in Queensland since 2000 – Wyaralong and sourcing materials for the concrete required for this and Paradise and while he chose not to expand on the large structure. failures at Paradise, it had become obvious that change Following several questions from the floor on the was necessary for the successful delivery of water infra- future look of water development in Queensland, our structure in Queensland. President, Daryl Brigden, moved a vote of thanks which Dave then proceeded to provide some insight into was unreservedly supported by acclamation given that at several options currently being discussed, and which last there appears to be some recognition by Govern- hopefully will enable Queensland to better manage the ment that water projects deserved to be better delivered delivery and operation of major water infrastructure in in this state. future. Past President Pete These included the possible re-establishment of a state water authority given the current round of business Many thanks to Dave for his address and to Peter cases for water projects showed the importance of Gilbey for his summary. I’m sorry I was unable to join providing continuity and expertise in the ownership and the 15 members who attended the talk - Ed. management of these long-life projects. The lack of ex-

A Well Deserved Award Congratulations to former General Manager of Resilience, Graeme Milligan, who shared the 2021 Floodplain Management Australia (FMA) Allan Ezzy Flood Risk Manager of the Year Award. From 2011 to his retirement in 2020, Graeme led a series of projects to strengthen the flood resilience of Queensland communities. He also led the delivery of Resilient Queensland, the implementation plan for the Queensland Strategy for Disaster Resil- ience.

He who laughs last … … doesn’t get the joke.

Watery Sauces No 95 Page 2 Exploring the Bradfield Scheme posed components of the ‘original’ and ‘new’ Bradfield I recently received a phone call from Bob McDonald Schemes. offering me an article for the Newsletter and this was I am sure that many of our readers would find Bob’s followed by the article which commenced as follows: work of great interest, so, with his permission, we have INTRODUCTION posted his article on our website. It can be accessed via Over the last twelve months, Covid has put a lid on a the following link. Bradfield Schemes. lot of activities. So, to keep the brain active, I decided to As a result of his research, Bob has concluded explore Bradfield’s proposal to transport water from east MYTHS TO DISPEL flowing streams into the proposed Hells Gate Dam Some information on the internet about the Bradfield (HGD) on the Burdekin and across the Great Dividing scheme appears to be straight out of a Jules Verne novel Range (GDR) to the Thomson catchment. This activity and needs to be ‘fact checked’ properly. was further advanced by the proposal for a 'New Brad- 1. TUNNEL. There is no economical method of con- field Scheme' during the 2020 election campaign. structing a tunnel of any size under the GDR. It is too There follows a detailed description of Bob’s extremely long and a HGL slope must be considered in any calcu- interesting and commendable research. First, Bob had lations. to define what was meant by “The Bradfield Scheme”. 2. CLARKE RIVER. Taking water from the upper In 1938, Bradfield proposed moving water from the up- reaches of the Clarke allows only a small percentage of per reaches of the Clarke River within the HG Dam storage volume to be accessed. This method also pre- storage area, through a tunnel under the GDR to the vents the use of hydro from HG dam. . In 1941 he proposed an alternative 3. WARREGO RIVER. Without pumping, there is no pipeline system from HG Dam, via somewhere between way of distributing water from the Thomson catchment Charters Towers and Pentland, and then on to Webb to the Warrego, let alone the Maranoa. Lake where he had been told there was a low spot in the CONCLUSION GDR and that water could then flow into Torrens Creek, Water distribution from east to west by any method is an a tributary of the Thomson, and on to Cooper Creek and expensive exercise. An organised irrigation area on the Lake Eyre. The LNP’s election proposal was to irrigate alluvial black soil between Hughenden and Richmond 80,000 km2 of land west of the GDR. would certainly inject a lot into that area, but Govern- Bob’s work involved the acquisition of detailed contour ments need to provide the funding and not expect irriga- information and an examination of many of the pro- tors to pay for everything. I commend Bob’s work to all interested readers - Ed.

Bob McDonald spent his working life on Irrigation Area design in Mareeba, Emerald and Mackay before becom- ing Principal Technical Officer, Design Division in Brisbane and then Executive Office Program Management, Water Resources.

Regretfully, we have to record the passing of a number of our former colleagues who would have been known to our members: Patrick Hall Scott (1935 - 2021) died on 14 March. Pat joined IWSC as a cadet Draftsman in the 1950s and served until his retirement in 1989. He managed the cartographic unit in William Street until he moved to the Indooroopilly Science Centre when that was established. Laurence James Brace (1930 - 2021) passed away in April. Laurie was a Mechanical Engineer, based in Head Office. Donald Alan Collyer, who died in Yeppoon in May was a construction foreman who worked on Beard- more, Monduran, Kinchant and Fairbairn dams before becoming a “water joey” in the Theodore Irrigation Area. Christopher Mols (1961 - 2021) died in May, shortly before his 60th birthday. Chris joined the materials group at Rocklea as a cadet in 1979 and worked there (apart from a deployment in Cambodia) until he re- signed in 1998 to take up a post with Hymix and Hanson.

People who live in glass houses … … should ablute elsewhere.

Watery Sauces No 95 Page 3 A Review of Risk The nearest I came to being a natural disaster victim Ian Fox was when I visited the island of Flores in Indonesia in Ian joined QIWSC in 1970 and 1992. A Dutch consultant (Wijnand Langeraar) and I had worked in HQ (Planning and been assigned to prepare a technical proposal for irriga- Design), Construction (Maroon tion infrastructure modernisation. We arrived in the capi- Dam) and Emerald Irrigation tal Maumere on the evening of 11 December 1992, and Scheme up to September 1976. See also page 5 -Ed. set off early the next day to visit various sites between During the years I worked in Asia and other parts of Maumere and Labuan Bajo on the western extremity of the developing world (beginning in 1976 on a project in the island. Flores is a stunningly beautiful island, but its Iraq and continuing through to 2020 when I did my last roads are (or were at that date) rudimentary and badly assignment in Vietnam), I rarely worried about personal potholed. Many sections of road were being rebuilt to risks due to natural disasters. Events such as floods, higher standards, with road building crews housed in landslides, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions camps precariously perched on hillsides adjacent to work etc. nevertheless occurred with high frequency when I sites. The island is a string of volcanoes. was in Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Malaysia, During our first day of road travel we experienced Vietnam, Cambodia, China... I was more worried about some unusual shaking of the vehicle. This shaking be- being killed in road accidents given that driving habits came so vigorous that the driver stopped to check the in all of those countries were uniformly reckless. wheels and other equipment. There did not seem to be One becomes accustomed to being woken up by the anything amiss, and given that the roads were in a primi- vigorous shaking of a house during earthquake trem- tive condition, we were not unduly alarmed by ors, and I have experienced some impressive floods. But I the roughness of the ride. At the next town a large crowd have never been seriously inconvenienced by any of these (most if not all of the town's residents) was standing out phenomena which incidentally played a large role in my in the road. We learned then that there had been a partic- work activities. One of my most interesting assignments ularly strong earthquake and the town's residents were was damage assessment (to infrastructure and communi- now too afraid to remain in their houses or other build- ty/livelihood activities) resulting from extensive flooding ings. Since we had some distance to cover before arriv- in the Songhua river basin in China in 1998. This is the ing at the next major town (Ruteng), we continued on. worst flood on record for this river basin. It covered large We could not advance beyond Ruteng because many parts of Jilin, Inner Mongolia and Hilongjiang provinces, roads had become impassable so we settled in for a stay all close to or bordering Russia's far east. of unknown duration. The earthquake had knocked out This was my first assignment in China - my projects power for much of the island. Many bridges had col- in Indonesia had been interrupted brutally by the 1997- lapsed and there had been massive landslides on steep 98 Asian financial crisis. I arrived in China toward the mountain sides. In Ruteng we learned through our driver end of 1998 before the floodwaters had receded. Field that Maumere had been severely affected by the earth- investigations were relatively straightforward - we were quake and a resulting tsunami which reached as high as able to drive for hundreds of kilometres in different di- 25m. (Quoting from Wikipedia: the earthquake had a rections on frozen floodwater. It was quite spectacular magnitude of 7.8 and produced a tsunami that killed and much safer than driving on the iced-over roads. some 2,500 people. In Maumere where we had spent the However, one of my team members fell through the ice night, 90% of buildings were destroyed). at one location because he walked close to a bridge abut- The driver of our hire car left us in Ruteng because he ment where water flowing under the ice had eroded its was anxious to return to his family in Maumere. We had underside. He had a miserable trip back to civilization, no way of contacting our families or others to inform wrapped as much as possible in a tarpaulin. them we were safe, so we took local buses to Labuan Bajo (at the western extremity of Flores) in the hope of catching a flight or a boat to return home. However, all flights had been diverted to rescue and humanitarian services and the passenger ferries were booked out. (Bus travel on country roads in Indonesia has a particular feature that adds to the experience: the sides of the bus become streaked with vomit, the odour of which is enough to turn the stomach of the most intrepid travel- lers. Occasionally the vomit is hosed off at various A broken bridge in Inner Mongolia (this is the only photo I points along the route). could find on my computer from that investigation) All work and no play … … is the suspected adulterer’s claim. Watery No 95 A Review of Risk (continued) (The string of islands making up the territory of Indonesia We settled into some comfortable accommodation and separate the Pacific Ocean from the Indian Ocean. There attempted to prepare our report on the few sites we had are strong tidal movements between these oceans which already visited. Labuan Bajo is stunningly beautiful and result in large and extremely dangerous whirlpools at criti- our simple accommodation overlooked a particularly at- cal locations). tractive set of islands and beaches. We did some fieldwork Some days later we took the same boat and worked our not far out of Labuan Bajo. We also joined some groups of way by various means back to Jakarta. We had missed out tourists for snorkeling. on being in the wrong place (Maumere) at the wrong time by a matter of hours - far less than a millisecond in a geo- logic time scale.

Killing time in One small piece of trivia: the Indonesian banknote for Lubuan Bajo 5,000 Rupiah features a particular group of volcanoes on Flores island.

Everyone was trapped, more or less, in the same predic- ament - no available flights or space on heavily booked passenger boats. Eventually, after about 12 days we were able to reserve Their three craters have, through various eruptions, two seats on a Merpati flight to West Nusa Tenggara, formed three lakes each with a different colour - that is, where we hoped to pick up flights heading further west. until the 1992 earthquake caused part of the separating When we turned up at the airport we were informed that walls to collapse. The colours became mixed and are now the flight was overbooked and that we could not join this in various shades of blue as shown below. flight. No amount of disputation (on the part of my Dutch colleague) could convince the airport staff to allow us onto that flight. Coincidentally we also missed out on a boat ride the same day because we had chosen the flight over the boat ride, and relinquished our boat reservation. We watched the plane take off. It veered to the left, the wing tip hit the ground beside the runway and the plane crashed. Many passengers were injured, some quite badly.

What a wonderful (unsolicited) article. Many thanks -Ed. Ian also provided the following work history I joined the UK firm (Sir M. MacDonald & Partners) in 1976 to work on irrigation design and construction in Iraq. From 1978 to1980 I worked for SMEC on the Cimanuk River Basin Project in Indonesia. From 1980-84 I worked for Cameron McNamara in Brisbane (mainly in Australia), from 1984-1986 for Rural Man- The passenger boat (for which we had relinquished our agement International (in Sumatra, Indonesia), from 1986-1993 tickets) returned to Labuan Bajo with all passengers for BCEOM, French Engineering Consultants, France (in Indone- onboard. The boat had become caught in a massive whirl- sia, The Philippines and Cambodia). In 1993 I joined the Asian pool (not far from Komodo island - the home of the fa- Development Bank in Manila to prepare and implement projects mous dragons), which created panic among the passengers. in Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Cambodia, Bangladesh, The captain and his crew succeeded in exiting the whirl- China). I retired from ADB in 2007 and have since worked as a pool after many harrowing minutes, but decided not to consultant for projects in Cambodia and Vietnam and now live in attempt the voyage that day and returned to Labuan Bajo. Hanoi.

There’s many a slip … … in the Bras and Things shop.

Watery Sauces No 95 Page 5 My Life of Hydrography We would groan when the propeller on the meter became entangled in weed and we would have to Part 6 winch the meter all the way back to clear it. It was not Ray Alford uncommon for this to happen several times during a One of the new sites was located on the Proserpine measurement. In any case, we did manage to obtain a River at a proposed damsite. There had previously been a good spread of high flow measurement which seemed floatwell at the station, but it was of an early design and to please Bill immensely. I was less than pleased was prone to overtopping during flood time. The new when we inspected the traveller pulley on the far bank gauging station was a GE erected high above the maxi- several months later. The traversing pulley was frozen mum flood level. Although only about a half hour drive and hadn’t been turning. No wonder the winch was so from the town of Proserpine, the road to the site wound hard to crank! its way up the valley floor and would become impassable The remainder of this wet season passed in a never- when the river rose. If high level gaugings were to be ending succession of measuring flow, walking through obtained, it would be necessary to camp on site. mud and being drenched. Because this was my first Bill ordered a camping hut for this purpose which was wet season working in hydrography, I thought that this duly delivered via rail from Rocklea to the Proserpine rail was normal when, in fact, it was the third most active station. Geoff had hired a carrier to take the hut to site, cyclone season on record. As well as being a good but we had to load and unload the parts of the hut our- year for learning flood measuring techniques, 1974 selves. Bill knew what a camping hut was but even also gave me my first experience in a completely dif- though neither Geoff nor I had seen one before, we were ferent activity – helicopter operations. tasked with the erection of this one. We were eventually The Commission had been using helicopters for confronted by a pile of panels and brackets on the bank of several years to service gauging stations in North the Proserpine River without any assembly instructions. Queensland. As was often the case in the wet season The floor comprised four wooden panels each six- (between December and May), many of the roads and feet square. These sat on nine stumps which we cut from tracks were impassable due to flooding and boggy nearby trees and buried in the ground. There were a conditions. The bitumen didn’t extend much further number of included anchor bolts designed to bolt the than between the main towns and the road to Mt Isa floor to the stumps. The installation of each one required from Townsville was only partly sealed. As this was holes to be bored through the stumps and the flooring, a also the time that most of the annual flow occurred, it laborious task for a hand cranked auger. We debated the was important to ensure that instruments kept going. need for installing all the supplied bolts but decided to Helicopters were used to visit the more remote gaug- use all of them. Several years later I had need to reflect ing stations once or twice during the “wet”. Addition- on this decision and wished that we had installed more. ally, flow measurements could be obtained at stations The hut was completed, and though not quite to design, that were otherwise dry during regular visits. A con- it became Bill’s pride and joy. I don’t think we stayed at tract was let each year for a number of flying hours the hotel in Proserpine again after the completion of that (usually around 100) and the contract awarded to the hut. lowest tenderer. My first wet season in Mackay was 1974. This was the year of the devastating Brisbane floods from cyclone Wanda, but the rest of Queensland also copped a drenching from Wanda and four other cyclones. Most days saw us measuring large flows from cableways and travellers. Travellers consisted of a fixed cable across the river from which a current meter could be suspend- ed. The meter could be winched horizontally across the stream and lowered vertically into the flow by the use of a large double drum hand winch at one end of the cable. The gauging station at Pleystowe, just outside of Mac- kay, was so equipped. Obtaining measurements from this site was a high priority so we often spent time there “Bloody politicians! No matter how loudly I when the Pioneer was in flood. Winding the winches point out the error of their ways when they ap- was hard work and not something we looked forward to. pear on television, they never change!”

The bigger they are … … the more likely they’ll win the giant pumpkin prize.

Watery Sauces No 95 Page 6 My Life of Hydrography (continued) It was the Bureau’s responsibility to record rain- Although the helicopter was used mostly to service the fall, but in reality, this type of instrumentation was Mareeba and Townsville recorders, one visit was allocated usually located at sites specified by our own hy- for the more remote Mackay stations. I was pretty excited at drologists with little interest by the BOM in the my first chance to ride in a helicopter. My entire flying ex- data collected by them. Our hydrologists required perience up to then was a couple of flights in a light aircraft. long term records while the Bureau was more in- I hadn’t even flown in a domestic jet. This trip began with a terested in what was happening at the moment. journey by train to Townsville and an overnight stay at the The pluviographs consisted of a standard People’s Palace. The next morning, I was sitting in the back Leupold and Stevens strip recorder attached to a seat of a Jetranger, hemmed in by all sorts of equipment and tipping bucket rain gauge. The rain gauge com- spares, bound for the gauging station at the Burdekin Falls. prised an eight-inch, funnel-shaped catch, under Roy Mincher was navigating, a map on his lap, giving in- which were mounted two, triangular shaped, pivot- structions to the pilot. Travel time was short between sta- ing containers. These were arranged so that at any tions and time was of the essence as you had to make your time, one was directly below the bottom of the day’s destination before dark. The helicopter couldn’t fly at gauge. When it was raining, the container would night and most pilots were not amiable to a night spent fill until the weight of water was sufficient to over- without camping gear and food, so it was essential to ser- balance. Arranged like a seesaw, the other contain- vice the recorder and measure flow in the shortest possible er would then swing up and be positioned to catch time. I was not experienced enough to be given the respon- the rain. These containers would tip when the sibility for the instrumentation so Roy would head for the weight of water was equivalent to that received hut while I would measure the flow. The pilot would help from 0.2mm rainfall. During the tipping process, a with the flow measurement and book the gauging as it pro- magnet attached to the tipping mechanism would gressed. This was a good thing for me, as the pilot would pass a switch, momentarily closing a contact which try to land near the measuring section to save himself a would in turn activate a solenoid on the chart re- walk. This was not such a good thing though for the person corder. This motion caused the pen to move slight- servicing the instrument. If the instrument needed some ly across the chart. Because the chart was moving repair, he would have to trudge back and forth between the at a constant velocity, the intensity of the rain helicopter and instrument shelter to get the spare parts need- could be easily computed. The pluviographs were ed. generally reliable. A typical service would involve We serviced five stations that day, and the novelty of winding the recorder negator spring, changing bat- flying in a helicopter had well and truly worn off by the teries or chart if required, and cleaning out the de- time we landed that evening behind the Nebo hotel. Geoff bris in the rain gauge. Because the instruments and Bill were there to meet us along with the two drums of were located in high rainfall areas in the ranges Avgas that they brought with them. Geoff took off in the behind Mackay, it was nearly always raining when helicopter the next day with Roy to service stations along we were there. Unlike our gauging stations, the the Broken river and I returned to Mackay with Bill. instruments had no hut to protect them, only a sim- Apart from the normal instrumentation at gauging sta- ple cover over the chart recorder, making the ser- tions, there were now other types of instruments that we vicing task difficult as we tried to protect the in- would routinely service. The Bureau of Meteorology was strument and ourselves from the rain. the owner of several remote pluviographs in our area and it The other instrument type was a Foxboro re- was our responsibility to maintain them. Pluviographs give corder. These were used to record river heights and a continuous record of rainfall and are used to derive inten- were a low-cost alternative to a true gauging sta- sity data for hydrological analysis. Most post offices operat- tion. The operating principle was that of a pressure ed a BOM Dynes pluviograph for this purpose along with gauge whereby the pressure of water in the stream other weather-related instruments. The problem for the Bu- was indicated by a large dial gauge. A pen was reau was that this data was usually not representative of attached to the end of the dial which rested on a rainfall across a river catchment. Manual rain measurements circular chart turned slowly by a wind up clock were available elsewhere but these daily readings didn’t mechanism. As the clock turned, the hydrograph yield intensity data. To address this shortfall, pluviographs, was drawn in a circular fashion around the centre capable of long-term recording, were installed in remote of the chart. locations. … to be continued.

The early bird … … must be insomniac.

Watery Sauces No 95 Page 7 Memories of The dance was a great success. The canteen sold Part 4 drinks all night. Crowds of people, male and female Hector Macdonald came from Warwick, but Anna was not among them. Phyl was a charming woman and I enjoyed the out- One night at the canteen there was a small group ing. I decided to have lessons and so paid 12 shillings left at the end of the night when Frank Leach closed and sixpence on each of two occasions for an hour’s the bar – they were Les Warren, Kev Kennedy, Ken tuition from the local professional at Warwick, a young Spressor and myself. Warren was feeling a bit toey chap named Errol Hartvixen. It is the only coaching I and suggested we go over to Cossie’s pub (the Darling have paid for at sport in my life. He told me to practise Downs Hotel). We all agreed this was a splendid idea and that I would have a handicap of eight. Unfortunate- and so arrived there about 10 pm. The place was emp- ly I played very little at Leslie Dam and seldom played ty and Cosgrove was getting ready to lock up. He wel- the game afterwards, apart from a social game which comed us and we all started to drink together. A cou- has averaged about one per year. ple of hours later I looked at my watch – it was 12.05. Because golf was so popular at the dam, the support- The date was now 25 July. Amidst the talking and ers formed the Leslie Dam Social Golf Club – and I was singing going on amongst the group I broke some made President. Not only did I know nothing about golf important news. Today was my 21st birthday. Nobody I was totally unaware of what was expected of a Presi- believed me. I assured them it was true. Cosgrove put dent. So one day I went in to Warwick to play and had a on free drinks. The party notched up a gear or two. At chat to Noel Freemantle, the Club President. He was a daylight, around 6 am, we felt it was time to move on. helpful fellow. While I was in there I met his daughter, We drove back to camp, had a shower, had breakfast, Anna. I would have liked to have got a lot of help from and started work at 7.30. It was a long day. The news her too, but it was merely a fleeting encounter. broke that it was my 21st. Jess Hastie who ran the While making preparations for the dance someone kitchen in the mess, together with the other ladies who said we needed to get a piano. Someone else said that worked there, made a cake during the day. That night we should ask Noel Freemantle if we could borrow his we had a small informal party in the canteen complete for the evening. This seemed an eminently sensible idea with cake, candles and all the trimmings. At 10.00 the to me as it provided an opportunity for me to ring the canteen closed and we adjourned to the single men’s Freemantles and possibly speak to their daughter. If we lines. I left around 11.00 and went to bed – it had been managed to get a piano we would need transport to bring a long two days. The rest kept on partying. A couple it to the dam so that meant using one of the Commis- of days later I visited the women in the kitchen and sion’s trucks. At that stage of my life I had no idea of the thanked them for their kindness in making me a cake. effort involved in moving a piano so I could see no I gave them all a large box of chocolates. It was the problem in asking Taylor if we could use one of the first birthday party I had had since the one with my trucks on site. Fortunately somebody broke the news mother and Sarah McIvor at Emu Vale eighteen years about the piano to Taylor before I got a chance to talk to previously. him. He was shocked at the thought of people who Apart from this isolated event, the social life at worked for him approaching a local dignitary such as the Leslie Dam was non-existent. One of the foremen, President of the Warwick Golf Club and asking for per- Roy Maxted, lived with his wife Iris in a married mission to remove an heirloom such as the family piano quarter. Most quarters had television but the reception from the premises. So Taylor fronted me one day and was patchy. One night per week over a period of a remarked out of the blue that every time you shifted an couple of months I went down there after dinner to iron frame piano it was necessary to retune it and that watch TV. It was the only time I was invited to any- maybe I should think again about ringing Freemantle. one’s home for any occasion. Taylor put on Christmas I had an answer for Taylor. I told him that I had no drinks at the end of the year at his house but it was intention of borrowing the piano and that the purpose more of an official business function rather than any- of the phone call was simply a chance for me to speak thing else. to his daughter whom I had met at the club and who There was one week when I had the family car up at may wish to come to the dance. I have no doubt that the dam. This was brought about because of a mixup Taylor knew that I meant what I said and I think he felt in transport arrangements during a period when Les somewhat embarrassed for being just a little bit naive. Warren was on holidays. As it turned out I never rang Freemantle and so I never Continued next page ... spoke to Anna. If you don’t like the heat … … move to a cold climate.

Watery Sauces No 95 Page 8 Memories of Leslie Dam (continued) One of the diamond drillers, Bunna Weedon, had driven After the tow truck took the Consul away the po- me to Brisbane on the Friday night and dropped me off liceman drove Jim and me back to camp. It had not out at Ipswich Road, South Brisbane. He said he would been a very successful night. pick me up there again on the Sunday at 6 pm. My father Fortunately there were no repercussions from the drove me over and we waited but Bunna never turned up. accident. The car was repaired in two weeks, the My father did not use the car during the week so I was insurance company paid the bill, and I delivered the able to take it back to Leslie Dam. (Bunna came to see car back to my father. At the time I thought the inci- me on the Monday to tell me he had not come back to dent was a mere trifle but I am sure now that my fa- camp until early Sunday morning. I had known Bunna ther did not see it this way. He never complained from my time at Borumba when he was a driller up there about my conduct, probably because he had spent a and had expected more of him. I had nothing further to do good part of his life in the bush and knew that mean- with him.) As I had transport at Warwick for a week I dering cattle could be a danger on the road, especial- took the opportunity to sample the night life. Jim Mienert ly at night. With hindsight I can now see that all chil- and I went in and we drank at the Lanham Hotel. Jim was dren, at some time in their life, do things that worry not a beer drinker – he only had gin squash. I decided to and trouble their parents. be sociable and to drink what he did. After I had downed Despite the lack of social life at Leslie Dam, the a dozen or so I came to the conclusion that it had no in- bush environment provided its own type of excite- toxicating effect on me whatsoever. I felt perfect. Eventu- ment. Having spent my early childhood years, as ally we left to come home thoroughly disappointed at the well as several school holidays, out at Emu Vale, 16 supply of eligible young females in Warwick on a week miles south of Warwick, as opposed to the dam night in winter. which was seven miles to the west, I was aware of While the Consul was running well there was some- possible sources of trouble in the bush. thing wrong with the lights – maybe it was a battery prob- As winter passed and the hotter months of October lem. Whatever the cause, the effect was that we had to and November approached, one particular topic of drive home virtually in the dark, the headlights having a conversation both at work and after hours was about range of about only five yards. While we were sailing snakes. One day in the office Taylor pronounced to along on the road out of Warwick using natural instinct all present that there was no danger of snakes at the more than visual observation to keep the car on the road I dam site as all the noise from plant, machinery and suddenly noticed about three yards in front of the car this heavy traffic would keep them away. Nobody argued enormous cow. This striped animal was standing in the with the boss when he was making an announcement middle of a bitumen road on a cold winter’s night chew- in his official capacity as Project Engineer. (I think ing its cud and snorting jets of fog out its nostrils. By the Taylor felt there was a certain degree of infallibility time my foot reached the brake the cow was already dead. involved whenever a Project Engineer delivered offi- The car stopped at the side of the road. Jim and I got out cial announcements to the workforce.) However, the to survey the scene, swore profusely at the cow and wait- fact that nobody disagreed did not mean that any- ed for assistance. One motorist heading for Warwick body agreed. promised to contact the Warwick police. They must have, You will not be surprised, dear reader, to find Hec- because eventually a police car from Warwick arrived. tor’s next instalment begins with a tale about a They organised a tow truck to remove the cow from the snake. But you can hold your baited breath - Ed. road and to take the car to a panel beater’s yard in War- wick. The police were kind enough to ignore the fact that I had spent the night in the Lanham Hotel drinking gin. This was because it was 1962 (no breathalysers in those St Barnabas Bulletin Board days) and country police accepted that people in the bush needed to drive to get home. I asked the policeman who The weekend Fasting and Prayer had right of way – the cow or me. He said that the cow Conference includes meals had no right to be standing on the highway but that unless somebody came along and claimed ownership of the dead carcass, there was nothing I could do. I thought to myself what a wise policeman this was – he must surely know everything that there is to know about law.

An Englishman’s home … … is two up, two down and claustrophobic.

Watery Sauces No 95 Page 9 ATP HEALTH and beauty Here is another anecdote condensed from Bill Bryson’s The Body The stuff responsible for the energy in our cells is a What Can we Expect from Life? chemical called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP which Life expectancy has certainly soared over the past may be the most important thing in your body you have century or so. This is largely due to improvements never heard of. Every molecule of ATP is like a tiny bat- in medical science which has eliminated many of tery that stores up energy and then releases it to power all the previous killers such as smallpox, typhoid, tu- the activities required by your cells. The chemistry in- berculosis etc. It is also attributable to better nutri- volved is magnificently complex. Here is one sentence tion though lifestyle with increased obesity etc has from a chemistry text book explaining a little of what it had a negative effect. Across the globe life expec- does. “Being polyanionic and featuring potentially chelata- tancy for men has risen from 48.1 years in 1950 to ble polyphosphate group, ATP binds metal cations with 70.5 today and for women from 52.9 to 75.6. Aus- high affinity.” tralians have done even better with the expectation Every day you produce and use your own body weight greater than 80 for both sexes. in ATP – some 200 trillion trillion molecules of it. But The longest living person (whose age was reliably because ATP is consumed more or less instantaneously, recorded) was Jeanne Louise Calment of Arles who you have only 60 grams of it within you at any given mo- died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days. ment. She outlived her husband by more than half a centu- The person who figured this out was an eccentric self- ry and her only daughter by 63 years. funded scientist named Peter Mitchell who in the early She was the beneficiary of one of the most mis- ‘60s inherited a fortune and set up a research centre in a judged deals ever made. In 1965, because of finan- stately home in Cornwall. cial difficulties, she agreed to leave her apartment to Mitchell wore shoulder-length hair and an earring at a a lawyer in return for 2500 francs per month until time when that was especially unusual among serious sci- she died. As she was then aged 90, it looked like a entists. He was also famously forgetful. At his daughter’s good deal for the lawyer. But he died first, thirty wedding, he approached another guest and confessed that years after signing the deal, having paid her 900,000 she looked familiar, though he couldn’t quite place her. “I francs for an apartment he never occupied. was your first wife,” she answered. ...from The Body: A guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson The Secret of Longevity Among my collection of Travellers Tales is this alternative claim. I have lost sight of its origin - Ed. At Great Wollaston is a small thatched cottage, the birthplace and home of the oldest Englishman who ever lived. Thomas Parr was born in 1483 and lived to see ten monarchs on the throne. He joined the army at 17, returning to run the family farm at 35. He married for the first time when he was 80, had an affair and an illegitimate child when he was 100 and married again at 122. When he was 152, he was taken to London to meet Charles I who asked the secret of his longevity. “Moral temperance and a vegetarian “I’m so depressed. The future diet,” he replied. Unfortunately the foul stench of London polluted his simply isn’t what it used to be.” lungs and he died in 1635. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Exercise those Brain Cells Answer to last Issue’s Teaser

Q. A long distance rally driver notices that he Q. What was significant about 2 February has driven 15951 km since he set out and that 2000? this number is a palindrome. He drives for A. The date, 02-02-2000 is the first time another two hours and again the number on his since 28-08-888 when all the figures were odometer is a palindrome. At what average even numbers. speed was he travelling?

Where there’s a will … …there’s a bunch of anxious potential heirs.

Watery Sauces No 95 Page 10 Litter to the Editor A Sign of the Times These were printed in The Courier Mail on 8 and 9 April respec- tively.

Terry’s Trivia (answers on page 12) 1. Ribollita is a type of Italian: (i) Pasta; (ii) Soup; (iii) Salad; (iv) Dessert; (v) Dance; (vi) Song. 2. Which Italian name stands for fake invest- ment schemes? (i) Silvio Berlusconi; (ii) Charles Ponzi; (iii) Giorgio Armani; (iv) Michael Buble; (v) Robert De Niro. 3. Which country has the world’s only non- rectangular flag: (i) Tibet; (ii) Mongolia; (iii) Bangladesh; (iv) Bhutan; (v) Nepal. 4. Eucalyptus haemastoma is the: (i) Salmon gum; (ii) Blue gum; (iii) Scribbly gum; (iv) Spotted gum; (v) Sweet gum; (vi) Bubble gum. 5. The Swahili phrase ‘hakuna matata’ roughly translated mean: (i) Good morn- ing; (ii) no worries (iii) welcome; (iv) how are you?; (v) Good bye. 6. Which countries does Lake Constance NOT have a border with: (i) France; (ii) Germany; (iii) Switzerland; (iv) Italy; (v) Austria. 7. Bill Gates’ strategies to reduce green- house gas emissions exclude: (i) Eating synthetic meat; (ii) installing solar panels; One hates to think what the 2011 (iii) buying green jet fuel; (iv) showering flood might have been like if this less; (v) going early to bed; (vi) giving up had been a high rainfall area! alcohol. If only the “experts” in the community would advise the Govern- 8. The pub that inspired “The Pub with No ment of the many sites located in the right places, it would make Beer” is in: (i) Glen Innes; (ii) Oodnadat- planning so much easier and economical. ta; (iii) Kalgoorlie; (iv) Ingham. (v) And I’m sure the Government would just get on and build all the Junee; (vi) Echuca. dams other letter writers demand - Ed.

Seeing the Point of Masks There’s few Covid rules that I mind but the point of the masks? I can’t see; without glasses I’m virtually blind, “I had a great Public Holiday. I caught up with a with a mask they’re as foggy can be. couple of mates at the pub, read a book and watched a movie on TV. What did your wife make you do?”.

Birds of a feather … … must be plucked before cooking.

Watery Sauces No 95 Page 11 Book Club The (future) Queen’s English What is being done to the English language which I We were recently at a Sunday Market, idly looking love so much? Readers will not be surprised to know at the titles of second hand books for sale when my eye that I cringe at the ever increasing Americanisation was caught by The Ghost by Robert Harris. I had read with pronunciations like ‘skedule’ integral and formid and enjoyed several of Harris’s books, so thought I -able and the use of alien terms such as sidewalk and would risk the $2 asking price. gotten. But even worse, journalists seem to have lost Adam Lang, a recently retired British prime minis- any understanding of the construction of sentences. ter now holed up in his publisher’s luxury compound on Take for example, two extracts from The Courier Martha’s Vineyard in the dead of winter, is under pres- Mail that relate to the future Queen. sure to complete memoirs for which, it is rumoured, 1. “Prince William and Catherine released a new Lang has been paid $10 million. The ghostwriter of the photo of .. Prince Louis to mark his third birthday. title, whose name we never discover, is brought in to Dressed in his school uniform, the couple shared a rewrite the manuscript after Lang’s original collaborator private snap …” All I can say is it must have been was found dead, drowned in distinctly fishy circum- pretty squeezy for both parents in the three year old’s stances. Our narrator has barely sat down to interview clothes. his subject when word comes that the International 2. “Just days after marking a decade of marriage, Criminal Court would like to see Lang in the dock. Prince William and Kate’s only daughter Princess Having located what may be the lethal secret, the Charlotte is celebrating her sixth birthday.” I know replacement ghostwriter begins to fear for his own safe- that in mediaeval times princesses were often be- ty. He tussles to reconcile his obligation to complete the trothed at a very early age for strategic reasons, but ghosting job with its attendant abundant payment on the for Princess Charlotte to be married four years before one hand and, on the other, the pressing need, as he sees she was even born must be something of a record. it, to reveal Lang’s true allegiances. He comes under increasing jeopardy: romantically and politically, as well Answers to Terry’s Trivia (page 11) as physically in a rattling good yarn. 1. (ii) Soup. 2. (ii) Charles Ponzi. 3. (v) Nepal. (iii) The clear parallels between the fictional Adam Lang Scribbly Gum. 5. (ii) no worries. 6. (i) France (iv) and the real-life Tony Blair and the respective wives Italy. 7. (iv) showering less; (v) going early to bed; perhaps add interest to the book. (vi) giving up alcohol. 8. (iv) Ingham. Without doubt, this is the best $2 read I’ve ever had. Ian Pullar

“What is it about Readers may have noticed that I have passed on some you, son? Is it extracts from Bill Bryson’s fascinating book “The ignorance or Body” (page 10) which was recommended by Helen apathy?” Scheu (and Ken Watson) in Newsletter 94. Even if mem- “I don’t know bers don’t feel up to writing a review of a good book, I and I don’t (and I expect other readers) would appreciate recom- care.” mendations of titles - Ed.

Office Bearers

President Daryl Brigden [email protected] Past Pres Peter Gilbey 0418 710 697 [email protected] Vice Pres Chris Robson [email protected] Secretary Peter McMahon [email protected] Treasurer Gary Corbett 3398 8657 [email protected] Executive Bruce Pearce 3289 6297 [email protected] Greg Claydon [email protected] The trouble with the rat race is that even when Editor Ian Pullar 3281 4437 [email protected] you win you’re still a rat. WebMaster Jon Henry [email protected]